How Chicago Bears LB Shea McClellin Got Ripped

Look at any NFL team and you’ll see players of many different shapes and sizes. Why the disparity? Every position has specific demands, so players must optimize their bodies for their roles on the field.

So, imagine what it’s like to change positions after spending the majority of your career specializing. Ask Shea McClellin, because after two seasons at defensive end for the Chicago Bears, he is switching to linebacker.

Defensive ends are among the largest players on the field. They need extra bulk to tangle with offensive linemen. But linebackers are strong, lean and quick. So in addition to learning his new position, McClellin had to transform his body this off-season.

To do this, he trained with Scot Prohaska, a nationally recognized sports performance consultant. The transformation was remarkable.

Making the Switch

“When Shea came to me, he was 266 pounds and 17.5-percent body fat,” Prohaska says. Those stats put McClellin slightly above average for defensive ends, but he was far too heavy to play linebacker, hampering the need to be quick.

“In my research, I’ve found that for every one percent reduction in body fat, you have a three percent increase in speed,” says Prohaska. “So getting lean was a priority because it instantly makes him faster.”

Nutrition became a focus for McClellin, because you can’t out-train a bad diet.

“The first thing I noticed was he is storing tons of fat in his belly,” says Prohaska. “That tells me right away that he’s not managing his carbohydrate and blood sugar very well. So we modified his carb intake and timing. And we cleaned up the quality of his food, so he was eating organic foods and grass-fed meats."

But, McClellin also needed to get stronger. “Shea’s plyometric work was unbelievable. He can get around in space like crazy,” Prohaska says. “But he couldn’t lift a lot of weight maximally.”

McClellin wanted make an impression on his teammates by showing that he put in the work needed to succeed at his new position. “One of his main goals was to get validation from one of the veteran guys that they can trust him at his new position,” Prohaska says.

The Workout Plan

Prohaska devised a plan to meet McClellin’s goals in 10 weeks, which is a relatively short amount of time for a complete body transformation. It featured four training days per week:

Monday – Upper-body strength/mass

Tuesday – Lower-body strength/mass

Wednesday – Active recovery (massage, sauna, etc.)

Thursday – Upper-body power

Friday – Lower-body power

Saturday – Active recovery (massage, sauna, etc.)

In addition to weight room work, Prohaska prescribed a speed workout for each training day. “I taught him how to drop his hips and get the right angle to change directions properly,” he says. “It showed him how to take advantage of his new strength.”

The Results

Prohaska says McClellin weighed in at OTAs at 253 pounds and 9.5 percent body fat. That’s a 45 percent drop in body fat and 11 pounds of new muscle—in only 10 weeks.

His transformation was so dramatic that Bears GM Phil Emery said, ‘‘He looks like an extra from a Dolph Lundgren movie, doesn’t he?’’

Check out McClellin's before and after pictures, and view the above videos to watch McLellin’s workouts in action.

Want to try McLellin’s workout and transform your body? Click here for a 3-week sample of the program. Also, learn how to perform many of the unique exercises below.

Exercise Instructions

The unique exercises prescribed in McClellin’s workouts are explained below.

Prone Lateral Raise – Adjust a bench to a 35-degree incline and lie on it on your stomach. Hold the dumbbells with your arms below your shoulders. Pinch your shoulder blades together and raise the dumbbells to your sides until your arms are parallel to the ground.

Dumbbell Zottman Curl – Perform a Dumbbell Curl. At mid-rep, rotate your arms so your palms face the ground and lower the dumbbells to the start. Perform a second Curl with your palms facing down and rotate back to a standard curl position.

Snatch-Grip Deadlift – Hold the bar with a wide grip like you would use for a Snatch. Perform a Shrug at the top of each rep.

Low-Pulley Split-Squat – Assume a staggered stance with your right foot forward in front of a cable machine. Hold a cable handle with your left hand. Perform a Split-Squat.

Barbell Hip Bridge – A Glute Bridge, but with a barbell across your hips.

Pelvic Tilts – Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the ground. Depress your lower back to the floor to tilt your hips.

Iso-Pause Dumbbell Rows – Perform two Dumbbell Rows. Pause at the middle of the second rep and hold for the specified time. Continue this pattern for the remainder of the set.